


Five Questions Gavin Should Have Asked Before Being Marked, and One He Did

by keerawa



Category: Integrate - Thea Hayworth
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alien Character(s), Alien Cultural Differences, M/M, Meet the Family, Police, Possessive Behavior, Post-Canon, Science Fiction, Tentacles, Xeno, Yuletide 2017, Yuletide Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-20 05:13:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13139793
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keerawa/pseuds/keerawa
Summary: These are the ways a human tests his mate.





	Five Questions Gavin Should Have Asked Before Being Marked, and One He Did

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Jain](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jain/gifts).



> Thanks to Sath for the quick and insightful beta.

****

**#1 “Were they serious about reserving a tattoo parlor?”**

Steve and Kurz threw the two of them one hell of a marking celebration party. Most of the hirsa in the department attended, along with some of the more open-minded humans. Gavin wondered how many of them had secondary marks, and how many _knew_ they had them.

Gavin spent the party stuck in a booth with Sezin plastered to his side as well-wishers stopped in to buy them drinks. The Scald members of the force were the only ones who could so much as sit on the other side of the booth without a low warning growl from Sezin. No one took offense. Even a rookie should have enough sense to keep their distance from a newly-mated hirsa.

Gavin drank a little too much that night. The Scald tattoos he woke up with the next morning—in Sezin’s indigo blue—reached along his spine and up the back of his neck to the base of his skull, subtle enough that you had to know what you were looking for to notice them. 

It seems Sezin really, really liked the idea of marking him so even the humans could tell he’d been claimed by a Scald. Gavin liked the way a quick rub along the back of his own neck would get Sezin worked up enough to drag him off for quickie anytime, anywhere.

Gavin tried not to abuse his irresistible sex appeal. Not at work, anyway.

 

****

**#2 “How will being marked affect us professionally?”**

The department paperwork wasn’t too bad, even if they had to date it to before Sezin marked him. It was the hassle afterwards that caught him by surprise.

“No,” the older hirsa man growled as soon as they stepped into his shop, his jagged green Brightreef markings and sharp talons on full threat display. “Absolutely not. By Sesira, I won’t have those two Scalds sniffing around my shop!”

“Another damned protest,” Gavin said wearily as they headed back to their cruiser a few minutes later. “It’s not like we’re the ones who broke in. Was clan bias always this common a complaint, and I just didn’t notice?”

Sezin nodded solemnly. “It’s to be expected. Not only are we both Scald-brothers; we are mate-marked, partners in every sense of the word. Historically, marked warrior-pairs were the greatest strength of a clan, and their greatest weapon against other clans in times of war. At the Department of Integration we are trained to overcome clan bias, and it has been many years since the last clan war. Still, the fear of such pairs remains, especially amongst hirsa elders.”

“How about some kind of mixer, where members of the Department from different clans get together and intentionally share a bit of scent, so that …” Gavin trailed off. 

Sezin looked queasy.

“Not a good idea?” Gavin asked.

“No,” Sezin said firmly and hustled him into the cruiser, palming the back of Gavin’s neck to reinforce his scent-mark.

 

****

**#3 “Did you actually want to come home for the holidays to meet my family?”**

Trips back to Earth cost more than their yearly salaries combined, and although it was perfectly legal for hirsa to travel to the original human homeworld, Gavin doubted any hirsa outside the diplomatic corp would ever bother. None of which seemed to matter to Gavin’s mother.

_“It’s lovely to meet you, Sezin, even if it is only via holomessage. Such a handsome young man. When exactly are you coming home to tie the knot, Gavin?” demanded Sergeant Hayes, Earth Defense Force._

Mom looked older than he remembered, her dark hair speckled with grey as it was pulled back into her usual braid. She was still in uniform. Gavin wasn’t sure if she had been too rushed to change into civvies before answering her personal messages, or if she was trying to pull rank.

Gavin and Sezin carefully planned and recorded their response.

_“Mom, we’re already married, as far as the hirsa are concerned.”_

_“I would certainly participate in any ceremony that Gavin desires, to seal our mating in the eyes of his family,” Sezin added diplomatically, “but we won't qualify for such extended leave from the Department of Integration for some years to come.”_

Mom’s reply came a week later. This time she had brought reinforcements.

_“Hello Gavin, Sezin,” said Captain Hayes._

At least he had the decency to take off the uniform before he recorded the message, and was wearing his NYPD sweatshirt. Dad was a bull of a man. Local legend had it that, when he walked a beat, Hayes never had to restrain a single suspect he brought in for drunk and disorderly charges. All he had to do was walk into a bar and loom; the drunks would come along peacefully. He was sitting with an arm around mom on the sofa. 

_“I hear that Sezin is your partner, son? I asked around, and I understand that the fraternization regulations are different on Koios, seeing as it's a joint human-hirsa colony. Still, make sure to dot the i’s and cross the t’s on that paperwork—you don’t want to give suspects any grounds for complaints. Your mother and I understand that the job comes first—”_

_“Your marriage comes first,” Mom corrected. “Your duty to the community is important, but your duty to each other is paramount. Is that clear, Sezin? You take care of my son,” she ordered._

“I will,” Sezin promised her, from half a galaxy away.

 

****

**#4 “How permanent is permanent?”**

Gavin lay on the cracked pavement, trying to breathe. Sezin was kneeling beside him. Gavin could smell the heavy, metallic scent of his own blood. Sezin must be choking on it.

“Did you get him?” Gavin asked.

“Not yet,” Sezin said shortly, hands busy doing something that hurt, oh fuck it hurt.

“The Deepmaw kid?” Gavin gasped out, trying to distract himself from the pain. “Is he okay?”

“He's frightened, but otherwise unharmed. You interrupted the human before he could … it doesn’t matter. I’ve called in an officer down. The ambulance is on the way,” Sezin replied absently, focused on whatever he was doing to Gavin’s leg.

“If … if I don’t make it. You should find someone. Another mate—” Gavin stopped talking, because Sezin’s head had snapped up to look at him, and he looked _furious_.

“I will forgive this insult,” Sezin hissed, “because you are wounded, and you do not know what you are saying. If you were to die here, in this alleyway, I have the _kraatha_ ’s scent. I would track him down, I would tear him apart, and then I would join you. Now stop talking! I hear the ambulance, it’s close.”

Sezin returned to whatever first aid he was working on. It didn’t hurt anymore.

Gavin felt a gentle nudge against his thumb. The warm, dry, familiar pressure of one of Sezin’s dorsal arms wrapped around his hand and wound its way up his arm before coming to rest gently stroking his cheek. He would have made a smart-aleck remark about Sezin whipping it out in public, but he was so tired, and it felt good ...

 

****

**#5 “Do hirsa assume all human clan-members are free babysitters?”**

After he got out of the hospital and moved in with Sezin, it seemed like every Scald family in the city with a kid had to drop by their new place. Sezin seemed to think it was normal that they all needed to borrow some tea, deliver a late marking-gift, or show off the piece of artwork little Ansa made at school that day. 

The adults were subtle about their touches, leaving casual marks to reinforce his place in the clan. The children—not so much. They climbed Gavin like a tree and clung, scent-marking his neck, his hair and his clothing. 

The first time a hirsa parent, renowned for being ferociously, even homicidally protective of their offspring, dropped off a kid at their place and went to run some errands, Gavin was terrified. By the tenth time it was just aggravating. 

“Ansa’s mom didn’t even say anything,” Gavin protested. “She just opened the door, shoved Ansa inside, and left!”

Sezin shrugged, allowing an enticing tease of motion from his dorsal arms. “The children adore you, and their parents know that they are safe with you here to protect them.”

“We should start charging by the hour,” Gavin muttered, embarrassed. Sezin had been slowly telling him the traditional stories of the Scald, on nights when they were too tired to fuck and too wired to sleep. A Child-Guardian was one of the most respected members of the clan.

“Irrin will return within the hour,” Sezin said. “Ansa can help me prepare the evening meal and then, afterwards…” He looked Gavin up and down, undressing him with his eyes in a way that was very, very awkward while Gavin had a child clinging to his back, sniffing his hair. “After dinner I'll be sure to properly reward you for your service to the clan,” he promised with a wicked grin, showing his fangs the way he never did around other humans. “Come, Ansa. Have you ever cooked dried pasta? It is one of Gavin’s favorite dishes.”

Then they left Gavin to limp to the fresher, take a cold shower and think virtuous, child-friendly thoughts, counting the minutes until Irrin came to take her daughter home.

****

  


**+1 “What if I want your scent so deep in me nothing could block it out?”**

“I’d say you’re probably going to get your wish,” Sezin said hoarsely, reaching out with all of his arms to reel Gavin in.

 

**Author's Note:**

> All credit for Gavin's final +1 question, and Sezin's response, go to the original author, Thea Hayworth.
> 
> For anyone who hasn't read this fabulous novella, it's canonical m/m cop partners, in space, with possessive tentacle sex. Go buy it for only $1.99 on [Smashwords](https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/531622)!


End file.
